From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V4 #202 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Friday, June 26 1998 Volume 04 : Number 202 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Latest Acquisitions [mbittner@juno.com] Re: Latest Acquisitions [JavaHo@aol.com] Re: Ecto's lowest point [Greg Jumper ] Re: Ecto's lowest point [Neile Graham ] Shai nO Shai [Neile Graham ] apparently EWS-resistant [Steve VanDevender ] CALL FOR PARTICIPATION: 1998 HAPPY BIRTHDAY PROJECT ["Mitchell A. Pravat] Re: Nancy Griffith (was Guinness Mudfest/Various Stuff) [Paul2k@aol.com] Re: Latest Acquisitions [Sherlyn Koo ] Ice Magazine [MRL220@aol.com] Re: Sort of ecto'ish question ["Eric Nylander" ] Re: Ecto's lowest point ["Robert Lovejoy" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1998 05:27:10 -0500 From: mbittner@juno.com Subject: Latest Acquisitions First of all, I really liked Meth's karoke (sp?) story. Much needed after all the problems creeping up here, lately. First acquisition is the "white" version of Michelle Shocked's _Kind Hearted Woman_. The "white" version is the one she released on her own while still with the major label. Much more "raw" than the "black" version, but it's still Michelle. A nice CD to round out the collection. (Two P.S'. to this: First, I lost your email and smail address, Carolyn, and also forgot how much I owe you. The second P.S. is if anyone has picked up her latest?) The next is Tori Amos' Choirgirl Hotel. Wonderful. I like this so much better than _Boys for Pele_. However, my favorite is still _Little Earthquakes_. Next is a CD from the local group Mulberry Lane. One of the DJ's at KIWR put it best: a much better version of the group had a member called Chyna (cripes! the brain is just not working this morning). Four part female harmony. Yes, a little too poppy for most, but they are local so I want to support them. Veda Hill's _spine_. Most awesome. Wonderful. Excellent. Gee, are there any other adjectives I'm missing? :-) I also have Songs for E. Carr, but really enjoy _spine_. Sarah Slean's _Universe_ on CD. I had the tape already, but decided to spring for the CD. I'm glad I did. The two extra songs make it worth the money. Of all the new CD's acquired lately, Sarah's is *THE BEST*, and unfortunately the shortest as well. Shai" nO Shai" _Human Condition_. I tracked through this CD at Border's, and enjoyed if from the first track. So, it's now in my collection. This is a female-fronted group from France, and think of the group as "Sinead O'Conner meets Loreena McKennitt". What this means is the vocal styllings and writing of Sinead, with the world-type music of what Loreena produces. I highly recommend this CD. However, I still say you should track through it just to be sure. Saffire - The Uppity Blues Women, _Cleaning House_. Fun blues. The local independent store has a "try it" bin where they put CD's they think people should try, and mark them down to *$.99*!! I really enjoy the blues, so decided that $.99 was not a lot of money. It's a fun CD. Although I like more country, traditional blues - and I would consider Saffire more, well, "uppity" - it's a good CD. Gee, I think that's it! :-) Shai" nO Shai" has probably been played the most of all those, so take that for what it is. Matt Bittner _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1998 07:10:56 EDT From: JavaHo@aol.com Subject: Re: Latest Acquisitions Matt writes: << The next is Tori Amos' Choirgirl Hotel. Wonderful. I like this so much better than _Boys for Pele_. However, my favorite is still _Little Earthquakes_.>> I agree all the way around. I especially like January and Raspberry Swirl from the new one which kicks off my day at work every day. << Veda Hill's _spine_. Most awesome. Wonderful. Excellent. Gee, are there any other adjectives I'm missing? :-) >> I saw this at Best Buy for $11.99 and snatched it up. Ironically, I received a taped copy the same day. Bonus--one for the car. I do like it (except for Bellyfish--chorus gets on my nerves), but more in the sense that I like her as an artist and would be interested to hear what else she has out there. << Sarah Slean's _Universe_ on CD. I had the tape already, but decided to spring for the CD. I'm glad I did. The two extra songs make it worth the money. Of all the new CD's acquired lately, Sarah's is *THE BEST*, and unfortunately the shortest as well.>> Steve, the money's in the mail for this. I loved the cassette, but again as Matt says...TOO SHORT!!! << Shai" nO Shai" _Human Condition_. I tracked through this CD at Border's, and enjoyed if from the first track. So, it's now in my collection. This is a female-fronted group from France, and think of the group as "Sinead O'Conner meets Loreena McKennitt". What this means is the vocal styllings and writing of Sinead, with the world-type music of what Loreena produces. I highly recommend this CD. However, I still say you should track through it just to be sure. >> I sampled this disc at Borders, and I have to say that it WILL be part of my collection. I'm just waiting for a more reasonable price to pop up somewhere. I hate paying $17 for a CD. Maybe I should take lessons from Jill :D? I'm not sure if I agree with Matt's comparisons; however, this group will probably remind everyone of someone different from song to song. For the eastern comparison...I thought of Bel Canto (specifically Bombay) rather than Loreena. SNS has a bit more energy than Loreena. And the vocal quality I picked up (aside from Ms. Drecker) was a touch of Sandy Denny. Go figure. I will say that I think there are many list members who would like this disc. Definitely...give it a spin. Java (who thinks Matt has pretty good taste in music...:) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1998 09:07:14 -0700 (PDT) From: Greg Jumper Subject: Re: Ecto's lowest point I'm following-up only because I'm sure many others on the list were blind-sided by this situation just as I was. Neal wrote: But this is what Vickie's post said: "My reasons for hating it are very personal and so wouldn't apply to anyone else seeing the film." And that was it. Thanks for quoting that passage -- that's what I remembered, but I didn't have the text to back it up. I don't know how long John's been on the list, but I've been around for maybe two years. *I* thought maybe Vickie had lost children in her life. (After all, in terms of thematic content and duration, the movie is *about* the effect of the loss of virtually all its children on a small community.) Imagine my (and many others', I expect) surprise at the rage over what was a revelation to me following John's post. "Who knew", as they say... Greg ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1998 09:59:52 -0700 From: Neile Graham Subject: Re: Ecto's lowest point I don't want to belabour this--it can only be divisive and not only that _tedious_, but I do want to say two things very briefly. Neal wrote: >But this is what Vickie's post said: > >"My reasons for hating it are very personal and so wouldn't apply to >anyone else seeing the film." > >And that was it. That was enough for me, and you, and Charley, and anyone >else who has been around for enough years (and it would have to be at >least 3 or 4) to know what she was talking about. But without that >knowledge, it doesn't seem at all obvious to me. It's not the details that are important--there is no reason why that statement can't be taken at face value. Maybe I've been sensitized by many many years of talking about responses to art (hey I've been discussing poetry since my teens) but this is the kind of statement that resonates for me. It's a "'nuff said" statement. >Everyone seems to agree with this philosophy, in theory at least. I think we all need to work at putting it back into practice. >I wouldn't add to this except that this post read (to me) as a (slight) >defense of Charley's post as a valid response to John's. Not his post, but his position. Those are very different things. And I do appreciate John's apology. I guess that's a third thing. - --Neile - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Neile Graham ..... http://www.sff.net/people/neile ..... neile@sff.net The Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music .... http://www.smoe.org/ectoguide - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1998 10:08:19 -0700 From: Neile Graham Subject: Shai nO Shai Yes yes yes! I guess I haven't been writing enough reviews for ecto and have been concentrating on the Guide instead. I mentioned this disc once or twice last year and in my year-end opus, but I should have been more insistent about it. JavaHo's right that it changes from track to track. Very catchy stuff. Unlike Matt, though, I don't really hear Loreena in this. She tends to have a more historical sensibility to her sound, while Shai nO Shai's music is very contemporary in sensibility and so it has quite a different feel. Sort of urban/smart rather than pastoral or something I can't quite put my finger on. I love it, though, and I'm glad other people have discovered it! - --Neile ><< Shai" nO Shai" _Human Condition_. I tracked through this CD at Border's, >and enjoyed if from the first track. So, it's now in my collection. This is >a female-fronted group from France, and think of the group as "Sinead >O'Conner meets Loreena McKennitt". What this means is the vocal styllings and >writing of Sinead, with the world-type music of what Loreena produces. I >highly recommend this CD. However, I still say you should track through it >just to be sure. >> > >I sampled this disc at Borders, and I have to say that it WILL be part of my >collection. I'm just waiting for a more reasonable price to pop up somewhere. >I hate paying $17 for a CD. Maybe I should take lessons from Jill :D? I'm not >sure if I agree with Matt's comparisons; however, this group will probably >remind everyone of someone different from song to song. For the eastern >comparison...I thought of Bel Canto (specifically Bombay) rather than Loreena. >SNS has a bit more energy than Loreena. And the vocal quality I picked up >(aside from Ms. Drecker) was a touch of Sandy Denny. Go figure. I will say >that I think there are many list members who would like this disc. >Definitely...give it a spin. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Neile Graham ..... http://www.sff.net/people/neile ..... neile@sff.net The Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music .... http://www.smoe.org/ectoguide - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1998 10:33:35 -0700 (PDT) From: Steve VanDevender Subject: apparently EWS-resistant Despite all the great new stuff coming out lately, I've been kind of EWS-resistant. Until last week. First I picked up Tori Amos's _from the choirgirl hotel_ and, on the basis of hers being a fairly frequently-mentioned name on Ecto, Katell Keineg's _Jet_. I like _from the choirgirl hotel_ a LOT. In particular I really dig "Raspberry Swirl", with "Jackie's Strength" a close second, and pretty much all the rest of the album a close third. I may even have to go back and revisit _Boys for Pele_, which I got but never really got into. Then, in what is probably the score-of-the-year, while browsing through another record store I found a used copy of Tribe's _Abort_ marked $2.99. Even better, a red mark on the price tag that I didn't even notice apparently meant they were selling it for half of the printed price. I've had _Sleeper_ for a while and really like several of the tracks on it, and I'm liking _Abort_ at least as much. Unfortunately with these two other strong albums to explore I'm finding that _Jet_ isn't really making it into the rotation yet, and the first few tracks aren't exactly sucking me in either. It looks like I'm going to have to place an order for the new Lisa Gerrard album, as I haven't found it in local stores yet. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1998 10:42:23 -0700 From: Neile Graham Subject: Susan Court news, at last!! Some of you might remember a couple of us talking about this artist a few years back when she released her demo tape. Well, the promised cd is FINALLY here. She does already have a page on The Ectophiles' Guide (which I now have to update--especially as the tape is no longer available and the cd is). Anyway, I'm pretty excited. - --Neile FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 6/24/98 Bring it into High Relief Chisel down... chip off the layers and bring it into High Relief, the debut CD from Susan Court, coming out June 30th on her label Fundeling Productions and already selling internationally on her website at www.fundeling.com. Recorded and mixed at both Triad Studios and Crosstown Studios by Tom Hall and Larz Nefzger, and mastered by Alan Yoshida at A&M Studios, High Relief is a long-awaited culmination of effort by a dedicated purveyor of eclectic stories, moods and arrangements. Featuring a diverse lineup on each song, this evocative folk/rock/madgrical collection is intensified within a high-caliber framework of artists Jami Sieber (formerly of Rumors of the Big Wave) on acoustic and electric cellos, Mark Yeend (of Ondine and Little Buddy) on percussion, John Morton on guitars, and several other artists to produce a cohesive and compelling whole. For "Something to See Between the Quiet," visit Susan Court's website at www.fundeling.com for a twice-monthly column as well as sound clips, pictures, news and reviews. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Neile Graham ..... http://www.sff.net/people/neile ..... neile@sff.net The Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music .... http://www.smoe.org/ectoguide - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1998 15:33:06 -0500 (CDT) From: "Mitchell A. Pravatiner" Subject: CALL FOR PARTICIPATION: 1998 HAPPY BIRTHDAY PROJECT Happy's 33rd birthday, on August 9th, is drawing closer. And so it is time to begin work on our annual birthday gift to her, and to each other--this year's edition of the Happy Birthday Project. This post is to invite you to participate. As veterans of this list know, and many newcomers might not, the Happy Gift and Birthday Projects are a series of compilation tapes that we on ecto put together, more or less semiannually, for Happy and for one another. The Birthday Project is assembled in honor of Happy's birthday on August 9th; the Gift Project is for the holiday season. Happy gets a copy of each, of course, and has remarked in the past about how much she enjoys them; each of the contributors also gets a copy, and noncontributing ectophiles are elegible to order copies. It is easy to participate in the making of this latest edition of our annual musical birthday card. What you need to do is dub one or more musical selections of your choice onto a 100-minute audio cassette, preferably with a spoken introduction, and snailmail it, along with another 100-minute cassette, to me. I then assemble the contributed materials into the final tape, send a copy to Happy, and then dub the contribtors' copies onto the tapes they send me, which they subsequently get back. Confused yet? :-) Your contribution can be any musical or spoken word material. Original performances/compositions are especially encouraged, but stuff that has already appeared on record is most welcome as well. (You should not, needless to say, contribute any of Happy's own recordings--coals to Newcastle and all that. But covers of Happy's songs that you perform yourself are fine.) Multiple selections are allowed. The total of all your selections, and spoken introductory material, should not exceed ten minutes in length--at least not significantly. I have sometimes accepted longer contributions; please consult me if you have something of the sort in mind. In addition to your "official" contribution, you may send along as much additional material as you like, to be used at my sole discretion to ensure that the compilation fills up both cassettes. While spoken introductions that you record yourself are very much preferred, we realize that not everyone is equipped to do that. So you also have the option of sending me a prepared text along with your tapes, for me to read on the final mix. The cassette with your contribution, the second blank cassette, the intro text for me to read (if applicable), and return postage should be snailmailed to me at this address: Mitch Pravatiner 8025 S. Oglesby Ave. Chicago, IL 60617-1134 USA In order to maximize the chances of getting the finished product into the mail (express or otherwise) to Bearsville in time for Happy to actually get it by her birthday (something on which the ball admittedly has been dropped in the past), you should send your contributions in time for them to reach me by July 27. You can expect periodic posts to the list from me in the weeks to come, nagging you all about this :-). The going rate for return postage is $2 in the United States, and $4 US in other countries. If this is a hardship, let me know and we'll see what we can work out. The past several compilations have been very fine assortments of music, I have high hopes for this one. Some people expressed a desire to contribute to various previous HBP's and HGP's, but ultimately were unable to for various reasons. They are especially encouraged to try again this time. So--let's all get the ball rolling, and make this a musically happy birthday for Happy. Feel free to email me with any questions. Mitch ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1998 17:02:38 EDT From: Paul2k@aol.com Subject: Re: Nancy Griffith (was Guinness Mudfest/Various Stuff) In a message dated 98-06-16 08:41:54 EDT, valkraemer@igc.org writes: > What's happening with Nancy Griffith these days? The last I heard, she was > putting away her guitar, never putting a microphone to her lips again, and > moving to Ireland permanently to be a full-time writer. Now I'm hearing > raves about her performance at the festival. Was the story about her > retirement just a bad dream I had? I have no idea :) But i do know that i read in a recent Billboard (so sue me, i get bored working at my music store sometimes so i gotta read something hee hee) that Nancy is working on a second volume of duet-type things and she's receiving a great response from other artists who want to be on it this time...i believe she said that it took her about 2 years to organize the first one and she swore a sequel off, but found it a lot easier to get this one together once people knew what it was about... so that's that. Paul "heatwave" Kim ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 07:59:24 +1000 From: Sherlyn Koo Subject: Re: Latest Acquisitions Hey folks, Matt said: >First of all, I really liked Meth's karoke (sp?) story. Much needed *snort* Well, I hated it. And I hate meth, Jeff and, most importantly, woj. *grin* >The next is Tori Amos' Choirgirl Hotel. Wonderful. I like this so much >better than _Boys for Pele_. However, my favorite is still _Little >Earthquakes_. I see I'm going to have to get this album... I like Tori's albums in chronological order: LE the most, UtP next, then BfP, which I really didn't get until I had a re-listen about a month ago. I still don't understand what the songs are about, but I have a feeling I might... one day... Hehe. Anyway, it'd be interesting to see how I react to "From a Choirgirl Hotel". I've only heard a couple of tracks on the radio so far... >Next is a CD from the local group Mulberry Lane. One of the DJ's at KIWR >put it best: a much better version of the group had a member called >Chyna (cripes! the brain is just not working this morning). Four part Wilson Phillips? - -sherlyn, who apologises if this post was incoherent but I just woke up... === Sherlyn Koo - sherlyn@fl.net.au ========================= a+e=ig "All my life and all my days and all my nights surround me, Every time I needed it, the magic always found me. And if I'm bound to all the world, all the world is bound to be..." - Peter Mulvey ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1998 18:40:04 EDT From: MRL220@aol.com Subject: Ice Magazine Just received July issue of Ice Magazine and it does NOT list Happy's new CD for release on August 11. I assume the CD will be released on time and this might be an oversight or Samson Records has not yet informed Ice Magaine of the release. I guess Ice does not list everything but their lists seem fairly comprehensive. Marty ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 06:27:34 -7 From: "Eric Nylander" Subject: Re: Sort of ecto'ish question There is a program called 'Cool Edit 96' that is shareware. Registration is $25 or $50 depending on how many features you want. They have a 'Pro' version for $400 but the shareware version probably does all that you need. The web site is : http://www.syntrillium.com I hope this helps. -Eric Nylander ericn@cfer.com > Help! > > If I wanted to get audio (say from a turntable or a cassette desk) into my > PC, manipulate the audio (reduce hiss etc) and then write the audio files to > a CD so I could play it as a regular audio CD. How would I go about it? > > The CD writing bit I'm ok with, its the bit before that I haven't got a clue. > > > Are there any software packages that don't cost an arm or a leg (so far all > the ones I've seen have been in the $600+ price range) that can do simple > manipulation of audio files? > > tim > > ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1998 21:58:13 -0400 From: "Robert Lovejoy" Subject: Re: Ecto's lowest point Awright you knuckleheads, This is the group whose support got me through tough times, like my father's passing and my mom's heart attack a few years ago. When I was down so many of you were there for me... So I thought I'd pop in now with that reminder, and Thank all of you for being the nice people you are, and offer hope that henceforth and forthwith y'all'll be excellent to each other. (Boy, I love that word y'all'll!) Special thanks go to Neile, whose diplomacy quickly defused the situation. And an extra outpouring of Love for Ectoma Vickie, our own venerable patron saint who was into Happy's music before most of us. I have been more of a lurker of late, but no less connected than ever. Busy as hell since I started working a year ago at another video facility right here in my home town. I'm happy to say I've run into a few other musicians working there as well and have been getting together and jammin' with some regularity these days. I swear the only thing better than listening to music is playing it! (Oh yeah, and good sex too!) I can give you all a bit of a Happy Update: she is putting together elements for a tour that will knock your socks off. For some reason I suspect she wants us all barefoot. I think the next time we see her performing live we will be even more amazed than usual. And I suspect more of us will get to see her than ever before. And that's all I'll say right now! So let's get our house back in order and keep respecting each other as we were meant. I was fortunate enough to have a teaching from the Dalai Lama when he was in New Jersey, and his message was that we should be happy. He explained that if one devotes their energy to the happiness of others, ultimately they will be very happy. What goes around comes around. Let us all be sensitive to each other: we may be a granfaloon but we can be a wonderful granfaloon. We might even be a karass! (or, From Buddhism to Bokonianism!!) So, don't take off your shoes - - for industry!!! Yours in Deep Space, Bob "Robert" Lovejoy aka Uncle Ecto n.p. Essential REM (but I played Building The Colossus earlier!) ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V4 #202 **************************